Been a While
by Winterling
Summary: Elissa Girard isn't expecting to know anyone but Tamaki and Kyouya when she moves to Japan from Paris. She's already found her niche in the Host Club on her first day at Ouran. But she will soon find someone else that she has a history with. TetsuyaXOC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Bonjour! My name is Elissa Girard. I'm French, if you haven't noticed, but I speak French, English, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese. I just moved to Japan because my daddy bought a new business. It's one of those really successful ones that have always existed. I think it's some kind of medical insurance law firm.

My father enrolled me in some school called Ouran Academy. I haven't seen the campus yet, and I imagine that it is going to be gorgeous, as all of the schools I've attended in the past have been, but I'd never imagined that it would be pink. _There must be some real freaks running this place, _I thought. But the moment I saw in the French double doors that reminded me of home, I knew that the outside isn't even half as tasteful as the rest.

Two students I have already met and have been friends with for my entire life greeted me in the front hallway: Kyouya Ootori and Tamaki Suou. Tamaki-oniisama's father and mine have been great friends for years, and Kyouya-oniisama's family has a lot of business with mine. And, with our family ties and my being a year younger, they have inadvertently become my _deux grands frères._

"Hi, you guys! It's been a long time!" I yelled, waving at them.

"It truly has," Tamaki-oniisama said, taking my hand and kissing it softly.

"Tamaki, quit scaring her," Kyouya-oniisama grabbed Tamaki-oniisama's pinky and twisted, causing him to let go instantaneously.

"It's good to see you, Elissa. Did you get my E-mails?" he asked.

"Oh… you sent me an E-mail? I haven't been online in a while. I need to check it soon, though…" I blushed. The truth of it is that Kyouya-oniisama has confessed his love for me over an E-mail. The lie of not having been on is to cover up the fact that I didn't reply because I didn't return his feelings.

"Whaaattt?" Tamaki-oniisama screeched. "You've been speaking to her and I haven't?"

"You have her E-mail address, Tamaki. You have had the power to contact her for years. It isn't my fault you never did," Kyouya-oniisama said very calmly, obviously used to Tamaki-oniisama's antics. Then, to me, he said: "Come with me. I want you to meet my senpai."

He led me down the South Hallway to a room called 'Music Room 3' and opened the door, escorting me inside. _Sacr__é__bleu, _I thought. The place is beautiful… but overdone. Someone has decorated it in the style of some old movie. Casablanca? Black and white photographs of an airport crowded the walls, and the four boys (and… one girl?) are dressed in old movie-like clothes. They all had girls in yellow dresses with maroon bows at the neck crowded around them.

Two of them are very handsome twins with red hair and olive eyes. There is an extremely short sandy-haired boy with brown eyes eating strawberry cake and holding a big pink plush rabbit under his arm. The person sitting next to him is dark haired, with dark, almost black eyes and looked very powerful for a teenage garçon.

The girl is short, but not quite as short as the little sandy-haired. It is obvious that she is trying to hide her femininity. Her eyes are large and dark brown. Her hair is beautiful, I can see, but she has it cropped short.

Kyouya-oniisama has black eyes and black hair. He is about the same height as Tamaki-oniisama, who is blonde haired, blue eyed, and is just a little bit taller than the ginger twins. Tamaki-oniisama is one quarter French, so I suppose we can speak privately, but not alone.

"Excuse me, ladies, but I'm afraid I must ask you to leave. Club activity has ended for the day," Kyouya said with sincerity coloring his tone. "Please feel free to come back tomorrow," he continued as the last few girls left the room. He closed the door behind them and turned to the boys and girl still inside.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Elissa Girard. She's our new student from France, just like someone else you know." He turned to me as he said, "Elissa, this is the Ouran High School Host Club. They will introduce themselves." Back to the others: "Be kind to her, all right? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go crunch some numbers."

He retreated into one of the many doors lining the walls, and the Host Club members were in action.

Immediately, the twins were on either side of me with each of my hands in both of theirs. "Hello, there." They said at exactly the same time.

"I'm Hikaru Hitachiin…" the one on my right said

"And I'm Kaoru Hitachiin," said the one on my left.

"They're lying," the girl said in a voice deeper than my own, but not unlike a female voice. "This one's Hikaru," she said, gesturing to the one on my left. "And this one's Kaoru." She gestured to the one on my right. "They do that a lot." She smiled, and I could plainly see that she was, in fact a girl. "I'm Haruhi Fujioka, an honors student here at Ouran."

The little sandy-haired one ran up to me and offered me his cake. "You can have some of my cake if you want to, El-chan! I like to share with the new students! But I still want some, so don't eat it all, okay?" The tall accompaniment to this little ball of happiness grunted in approval.

"Um… Okay?" I said, just a little confused. "Thank you?"

"I'm Mitskuni Haninozuka, by the way! This is Takashi Morinozuka. But you can call him Mori."

"We just call them Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai," the honors girl said. "Hunny likes calling people by nicknames. His for me is Haru-chan. Hika-chan, Kao-chan, Tama-chan, Kyo-chan, Takashi, and now, El-chan."She waved her hand at each of us as she said our nicknames. "It's just his way of showing he likes you."

"Can I ask you a question?" I said.

"Sure."

"Why are you trying to act like a guy?"

The room fell silent.


	2. Chapter 2

The twins looked at each other, then at me. "Wait…" Kaoru said, trying to put the pieces together.

"How did you know?" Hikaru said, finishing Kaoru's thought.

"Well, when she smiled at me, flowers popped into existence and rotated…"

Everyone's jaw besides Haruhi's dropped. Someone said, "Wait, that actually happens?"

"You guys, I've told you a million times, and now I'm telling you, Elissa; I'm not trying to be a guy. I like to be here, and if I'm not a guy, I can't be here. I love the Host Club. I'll stay here. When I came here, everyone assumed I was a guy because my hair was short and messed up and I was wearing my grandfather's glasses. And by the time these idiots realized it; I was already in the Host Club with an eight million yen debt."

"Eight million yen, what is that, like, 75,000 Euros? How did that happen?" I said with mild interest in my voice.

"I'll explain later," Tamaki said. "Now, we have to discuss something."

"And what would that be?" I said skeptically.

"Are you going to keep this a secret?"

"_Oui._ Of course I will. Don't worry."

"_Bien._"

The door to Music Room 3 opened to reveal a red haired boy with a mean-looking face that was wearing a strange smile. It was as if the smile didn't belong on such a face.

"Uh… We're closed… Bossanova, hello," said Tamaki.

"Bossanova? Strange name…" I said

"That's not my name," Bossanova-or-whatever-his-name-was said. He closed the door behind him, walked forward and stopped a few feet from me. Bowing, he spoke again. "Ritsu Kasanoda." He straightened. "Hey, do I know you from somewhere?"

His face seemed vaguely familiar. Childhood friends? Maybe acquaintances. "I don't think so," I said. "But if we do, then it's good to see you again." I smiled and extended my hand. "Elissa Girard, at your service."

He took my hand and kissed it. _He may look mean,_ I thought, _but he's far more gentlemanly than he looks._ When he pulled his face back from my hand, I saw a little bit of red in his cheeks that hadn't been there before. I chuckled a little bit.

"What's funny?" It was Kyouya, coming out of the little side room, laptop in hand. He saw Ritsu with my hand in his and for a split-second, looked utterly devastated. That expression quickly turned to one of pleasant surprise as he greeted Ritsu politely. "Oh, hello, Kasanoda. I didn't know you were coming today." He turned to me. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Of course." I knew what was coming. At least, I thought I did.

As the side room door closed behind Kyouya, he wheeled towards me.

"What is wrong with you? Do you have any idea who he is? He's the son of the godfather of the Kasanoda Syndicate. A gang lord." He emphasized the "gang lord" part. "I know you just got here, but I want you to stay away from him."

I felt absolutely insulted. "You're not my father. I can be friends with who I want."

"Please, Elissa, for me. Just keep away from him. And that servant of his."

"Servant?" I hadn't seen a servant.

"Yes. His name is Tetsuya Sendo, son of the godfather of the Sendo Syndicate. In my eyes, he's even more dangerous. Please. Keep away from both of them."

Tetsuya Sendo haunted my memories. I had wanted to see him again. But only to punch him in the face the way a commoner would. "No promises," I said, and opened the door. The twins and Tamaki tumbled inside of the room. I then came to the realization that they heard all of that. "You do realize that Kyouya took me in there so you wouldn't hear us talking to each other. Right?"

"Oh, that's what it was?" Kaoru said sheepishly, standing up and rubbing the back of his head.

"We had no idea that it was a secret meeting," finished Hikaru doing the exact same thing.

"Well, it was. And since all of you heard, I would like to apologize to Ritsu." I walked over to him. He was staring at the ground. I knew he had heard and that he hadn't liked what he heard. I sat beside him. "I am very sorry for what he said. And it really doesn't matter to me what he thinks of you. I don't think you're dangerous at all. And I will be your friend."

"I don't think you will want to."

"Do you think I care if you're the son of a godfather of a syndicate? You're a nice person. I wouldn't care if you were a thief, or a murderer, or what have you. I don't care. You're a good person."

"About Tetsuya… I've heard him talk about this French girl he used to know. I met her once, a long time ago. She has green eyes like yours and hair like yours. He said he loved her, but then he stopped talking to her so he could become a member of his father's gang. At least, that's what I heard. He never really told me. He said it was too painful for him to talk about."

Hearing this replayed memories from that dark time in my life after Tetsuya left France, throwing all my hard work trying to forget him down the toilet. I pushed the memories away into the darkest, most secluded corner of my mind like I always did.

"He's waiting outside for me to get out of school. He's my friend," Ritsu said. He was watching my face as the memories had flooded over me.

I composed myself. "I'll need to leave a little bit after you, then, won't I?"

"School's already ended for the day, Elissa," Tamaki said. He'd been unusually quiet all this time. I glanced at my intricate little silver pocket watch that was hanging around my neck on a thin silver chain. It had been only a minute? It seemed like so much longer than only a minute. And school had ended when? 2:30? It was 2:40. I needed to go. My father was expecting me home very soon.

"Oh my gosh, I need to go!" I exclaimed. I hurried up and to the door. "_Au revoir_, everyone. I'll see you tomorrow." I opened the door, and forgot to close it behind me. I ran down two flights of red-carpeted stairs. I ran out the front doors of Ouran Academy and straight into the arms of my old friend, Tetsuya Sendo.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh! I'm sorry, miss, I didn't mean to hurt you. You aren't hurt, are you?"

I had accidentally tackled him to the ground. I was lying on top of him and we were both breathless. My eyes widened and I scrambled up off of him. Hearing his voice for the first time in seven years… it tortured me.

"Huh? Elissa?" The sting of tears came to my eyes, and I ran to the parking garage where my modest little Toyota Camry was parked. I couldn't hear him behind me.

My cell phone rang just then. It was Kyouya. I answered, but the voice was not the one I was expecting.

"Elissa; it's Tetsuya." I hung up immediately.

The phone rang twelve more times on my way home and I ignored it every time. I had no time to talk. I needed to get home. Father would beat me half to death if I were home a moment later than three.

2:58. I was just walking in the door. Phew. If I had answered the phone, I would have been late. Tetsuya was still calling and had left four messages so far. I put my phone on silent mode.

"Father?" I yelled. My answer was a loud snoring coming from upstairs. I went to my place of sanctuary in the basement so I could listen to my messages and cry freely.

Flopping down on my extra-extra large beanbag chair, I pressed play on the first message.

"Elissa. God, was that really you? I can't believe we found each other again. You've gotten so beautiful over the past seven years. Your eyes are greener than ever, your hair more red than brown now. I've missed you. And I've changed, Elissa. I've-".

"BEEP. End of message."

_Darn it._ "Playing next message," my answering machine droned.

"I got cut off. So, I've been thinking about how well we went together. It was so easy to be around you, and easy for you to be around me. I thought about what it means to be in a syndicate, to be its leader. I thought about what it means to love and to be loved."

"BEEP. End of message." _Honestly? _ "Playing next message."

"Ugh. To not have to hate another person just because it's been going on for years. To be free; to be my own person. To, you know, have a little fun." There was a long period of silence before he was finally about to say something else.

"BEEP. End of message."

_Dang my answering machine._ "Playing next message," it said.

"Ha! I guess I got cut off again. Anyway, to have free will. So I took a chance. I left my father's stupid gang and took a place in the household of another. Not as a member of the gang, but as its lowly sweeper and personal servant to Rits-".

"BEEP. End of message." _Oh, come on._

"Playing next message."

"Ritsu Kasanoda. He's a good friend and we understand each other. We know what these gangs are like and that we don't want to be a part of them. So we're not. Anyway, back to us. I mean, I know I just stopped talking to you without any explanation, but it's what I had to do. And-"

"BEEP. End of message." _Okay, this is getting old._

"Playing final message." _Finally._

"You know, the fact that I left the Syndicate should count for something. I know you probably don't think much of me right now, but I need you to forgive me. I need to speak to you. Sweetheart, I love you. I've always loved you. I hope you can believe that. I'll stop bothering you now. Goodnight."

"HA! I doubt he loves me or ever did. He's just trying to get me to talk to him. I'm not falling for it," I muttered, bitter.

"ELISSA!" I will not repeat the rest of the sentence, as with many to follow, as it would arouse some… complications with the people that don't like swearing in our audience. My father swears a lot, drinks a LOT, and hits things (like me) A LOT. Especially since Mom died.

At the sound of his voice, I jumped and dashed up the stairs.

"ELISSA!"

"Yes! Yes, I'm coming, Father!" When I was at the top of the stairs, I could smell his cologne, even though he sounded like he was in the living room. I sped quickly by Deina, our maid, and into the living room. The scent of the cologne was even stronger there and I saw that he was in his best suit and tie.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Not me, we." He strode over to me, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and shoved me towards the staircase up to my room. "Get your best dress on and be in the limo in ten minutes or less. And fix your makeup; we don't need people to see that you've been crying." Jerking his head toward the kitchen, I heard him yell for Deina to help me get ready. I didn't understand most of his words, I was already upstairs. I don't disobey my father.

Deina was there soon, about a minute later. She helped me by choosing a gorgeous turquoise blue number while I selected jewelry.

Knowing that I only had so much time, I put my dress on while Deina fastened my opal necklace around my neck on top of my pocket watch. That took only two minutes. Then, on to the makeup.

I was a mess. My mascara was running down my face in little black streaks, my eyeliner smudged off to one side by my hand as I was wiping my tears away. My foundation was very uneven, though due to what, I have no clue. Thankfully, Deina had a type of makeup remover designed for this kind of situation. She spread it quickly across my face and let it sink in. Immediately after, she drew a damp cloth down my face, wiping away all traces of any makeup at all. It's a rather useful thing, considering it only takes about three seconds.

She fixed everything about my face and eyes while she chattered nervously. She wasn't even making sense, and we both knew it; she was only trying to calm herself down.

As she finished, she grew silent. Deina was the fastest makeup applier ever, I swear.

"Deina?" I asked, worrying.

"I know. I'm fine," she said, but it was clear that she was less than fine. I checked the clock. I still had about three minutes. "I just hate it when he's like that. He scares me, and I know he scares you too." I nodded. "I mean all that cologne is so you can't smell the rum. And he knows you've been crying, and he doesn't even bother to ask why. That man just…" She made her nimble little hands curve into claws and shook the air, as if she were strangling my father.

She looked at me and burst into tears, grabbing me and pulling me into her consoling arms. "What were you… crying about, anyway?" she asked, choking on a sob in the middle.

"Do you remember who we used to play with when we were younger?" I asked, referring to the times Deina and Tetsuya and I all played together back when my mom was alive. We were all about the same age. Deina was a little older, though. "I ran into him today. Literally."

"Yeah?" She rubbed the tears off of her eyelashes. "Really? That sucks."

See, Deina knew the whole story. She was one of my only friends growing up, so I told her everything. She was like a diary that could only be read by me. She knew how Tetsuya had left me and his mother to go to Japan with his father and be in the Sendo syndicate.

Deina glanced at the clock again. "Oh, oh, oh, you have to go. Just… call me if anything goes wrong, okay? I'll be there to pick you up. I love you, girl, you know that."

"I love you too, Deina." I hugged her and I left.

The black limo waiting outside was a little ostentatious for my tastes, but it was just my father's style, and I had to travel in his style when I was with him. When I was alone, I could drive my Camry all I wanted. I got in.

"You're late," Father scolded.

"I'm very sorry."

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So where are we going?"

"There's a dinner party at the Ootori house. We'll meet people from other businesses there."

Yeah. Businesses to buy that will try to buy ours. And sons of CEOs whose flirting to deflect.


	4. Chapter 4

We arrived to paparazzi. I wondered who might be there to warrant the photographer's attention. One man's shirt said, "_FORBES_". _Ah,_ I thought. _Rich people enthusiasts._ I'd never been on the cover of a magazine before, so I hesitated getting out of the limo.

When I did, the camera shutters went crazy. I saw several fashion magazine reporters, and CNN people, and Fox people… The list went on and on. That night must have been very _very_ important. Otherwise, CNN wouldn't have been there.

I tried to walk quickly to the door. Kyouya must have been expecting me, because he pushed his way through the crowd and offered his arm. I took it and knew that the tabloids would love calling us the couple of the year. I wondered how that would play out.

Once inside the house, I saw that there were far less people there than I'd pictured. There were only about ten adults, and most of the people from the Host Club were there. The twins greeted me, Kaoru first, then Hikaru. Tamaki was standing with his father. His grandmother was visibly ignoring him. Kyouya was walking me around, introducing me to this colleague of his father's and that patron of the company. To tell the truth, it was very boring. I only acted excited. I excused myself from Kyouya's presence to look around a little bit. I didn't know who I was looking for, but I found someone.

"El-chan!" Honey jumped on me from behind. He was very light, I observed.

"Oh, hi, Honey; Mori," I said, recalling their names perfectly.

"Hi," said Mori. It was the first time I'd ever heard him speak.

"Hi! Kyo-chan said that I have to stay over there in that room because he thinks I'm disruptive." He pointed to the closest door along the wall.

"I'll come with you. It's a little loud out here, what with the music and the conversation." We strolled over to the door, opened it, and found a casual hangout spot made for teenagers. There were couches, chairs, a pool table, a soda fountain, a TV, a few gaming systems, and a huge sound system. And it was completely unsupervised.

We waited. Honey got up at one point from one of the couches, grabbed a remote and switched on a game. Basketball game… _Click_. Music station with some incessant man saying something to a beat… _Click_. Soap opera… _Click_. Dora the Explorer…_Click_. Off.

So, when Kyouya came in, we were all relieved. He was with the twins, Tamaki, and, to my surprise, Kasanoda. What was a gang lord's son doing at a medical company dinner party?

"We're quarantined," Kyouya said.

"What?" We all exclaimed in unison.

"Tamaki, in an effort to reach out to his grandmother, spilled four glasses of punch on two of our guests. He just kept going back for more and tripped with every single one. Two of the people who were spilled on were ladies wearing white dresses, and the third was my father." BOTH Tamaki's and Kyouya's faces were red, Tamaki's with embarrassment, Kyouya's with rage. Kyouya didn't have to say who the fourth glass was spilled on, because we could all see it. All over his shirt.

"I'm sorry, Kyouya. You know I didn't mean to spill it on you. Or your father," Tamaki said, looking as if he were about to cry.

"You've done enough. Excuse me; I need to do damage control." Kyouya was so cold, heartless, even. He walked out.

"It's okay, Tama-chan. You were excited. You wanted to impress your grandma. It's okay," Honey soothed.

"Yeah, boss, it's not like it's a big deal," Hikaru said. But I could see that to Tamaki, it was.

He sniffled. "I know. It's just that I always mess everything up." The tears were starting to form.

"Hey," I said, putting my arm around his waist. "Don't talk like that. Think about this. You have all these friends. You can't have done something wrong if you have us. Everyone loves you." In a stage whisper, I told him, "Kyouya loves you, even though he tries really hard to hide it."

He looked into my eyes, blue on green. He smiled. I saw something in his eyes that I had seen in Tetsuya's and Kyouya's before. I smiled back. I hugged him.

"Thanks, Elissa. Has anyone ever told you have a gift for making people feel better?"

"I've been told," I said jokingly. I smiled at him, and he returned it.

"So what have we been doing in here?" He was suddenly very happy, jumping up to explore the room.

"Waiting for you guys. I've been keeping Honey company, since Kyouya wanted him to stay out of the way," I answered as he examined the board games.

He laughed. "Well, it seems like we're all keeping our dear Mitskuni's company." He paused. "It seems a bit ironic, doesn't it?"

"What does?" the twins asked.

"The soda fountain." He was suppressing a laugh. "Why would Kyouya want me anywhere around drinks?"

We all just laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

I went home that night tired and happy. We'd had fun playing games and joking with each other. I'd completely forgotten about Tetsuya, thank god. I talked to Deina after I got home, and she didn't bring him up, just asked about the party and how Kyouya and Tamaki were. She smiled when I told her I'd had loads of fun.

I woke up in the morning to golden sunlight streaming through my big bay window. I got ready for school slowly, not wanting to ruin the peace and quiet. The birds were chirping and the sun was shining; a beautiful day. I went downstairs to see what Deina made for breakfast, and after breakfast, went out into the garage.

When I flipped the lightswitch on, I saw him. Our eyes met. My heart started pounding.

"Hi, Elissa. Does Deina really still leave the key in the porch light? Even after moving, it was still in the same place."

I was so relieved that I parked at the other end of the garage when I got home after school yesterday. I tore my eyes away from his and started walking swiftly to my Camry. He caught up to me and grabbed my upper arm. I pushed against his chest and he released his grip on my arm. I opened my car's door, got inside, tried to back out, and realized that I'd forgotten to hit the garage door button. I didn't hit the door, but by the time it was open, Tetsuya had gotten in the passenger seat.

"Get out," I said in a flat tone.

"I don't want to."

"Get out of my car, Tetsuya."My voice was starting to rise.

"Hear me out. Did you get the messages I left you? I called from Kyouya's phone."

"No. Get out." My heart was still racing. This was the first conversation we'd had in seven years.

"Please. Elissa-"

"I'm not moving this car until you GET OUT!" I yelled.

"Good. I'm not getting out, and we're not going anywhere. That means you have to listen to me." He wasn't joking around. He wanted to talk to me.

I promptly turned off the engine, climbed out of the car, and went inside. It didn't stop him. He followed me inside.

"Please, Elissa, listen to me."

"Tetsuya?" Deina asked, surprised. "Is that you?"

"Elissa. I'm not leaving until you listen to what I have to say to you."

"I don't have time for this," I told him. I went upstairs, Tetsuya still tailing me. I went into my room, found what I was looking for in my closet, and tried to brush past him, but he was standing in my doorway, hands braced on either side of the frame.

"October." My eyes widened and I unwillingly looked up at him. No one ever called me by my middle name but him. "I knew that would get your attention," he said, smiling. "Listen, I wanted to see you. Every day, I had to fight the urge to quit and go back to France to find you. I just wanted to tell you that I was okay and see if you were. I wanted to write, call, whatever I could do, just to talk to you. I never had access to a phone or anything like that, so I couldn't. Believe me. You know me. You know how much I care about you." I could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth.

"Let me through," I said, dropping my gaze, not wanting to see the pain written on his face. His pain hurt me, too. It always had. After a moment of hesitation, he lowered his arms. I pushed past him.

"Elissa," he said when I was halfway down the hallway. I turned. "I love you."

With those three words came a wave of pain that knocked the breath out of me. I leaned on the wall, trying to drag the air into my lungs. Then, all at once, I was off the wall, downstairs, and into the garage, putting on my riding jacket and boots and climbing onto the Ducati. I saw Tetsuya appear in my mirror, and I gave the engine gas, tearing off of the estate in seconds.


End file.
